The Aces continued to keep the level of play high, and spent much more time in the Victoria zone than on Wednesday.
Victoria tallied six penalties in the first period, and with four of them giving the Aces a power-play opportunity, just the first paid off for the Aces.
In the second period, Victoria fought back, making it clear they weren’t going to go down easy.
Seven minutes into the period, Derick Martin put in the Salmon Kings’ first goal of the game, assisted by Rob Henniger and Jeff Caister.
The Salmon Kings continued to step up their game from the first period, and with less than two minutes to go, Victoria’s change-up while in the Aces' zone turned in their favor.
A Victoria player had the puck behind the net, and sent it to Henniger, whose initial shot was blocked by Coleman. The puck rebounded to Ryan Turek, who gave the Aces their first deficit in the post-season.
The Aces responded in a crowd-pleasing fashion, scoring two goals in the third period.
On a breakout, Brian Miller sent the puck to Chris Langkow. The two traded passes, and coming into Victoria’s zone, Dan Kissel sent the puck back to Miller, who put it in to tie the game.
Just a few minutes later, Scott Howes brought the puck across the front of the goal, and passed it to Brian Swanson, who was waiting on the backside, to bring the Aces ahead.
The lead was short-lived.
Victoria’s Chad Painchaud sent the puck to an awaiting Henniger, who finally got a goal of his own for the Salmon Kings, to tie up the game at three apiece.
In overtime, it took just two minutes and fifteen seconds for Langkow to score his first career post-season goal and seal the game. Scott Howes was tied up by a Victoria defender, and the puck trickled to Langkow. His shot bounced off goalie David Shantz and then a defender before it went into the net for the win.
The Aces now head to Victoria, where they will play Games 3 and 5 Saturday and Monday. Game 5, if necessary, will be played Saturday. All games start at 6:05 Alaska Time.
Note: Wes Goldie was initially credited with the game-winning goal at the game. The Aces have since determined that Langkow scored the goal.
